The Beauty Of Innocence
by whitedevilwings
Summary: There's this reality. There are so many things in one picture, so look closer, and closer- and closer- and you'll see the truth. A seeing person meeting a blind one. SasuNaruSasu. M, R
1. Chapter 1

"Daddy, why can't you fix it?"

"Because it's not broken, son."

"Then why isn't it breathing?"

"Because it's dead."

"Sasuke! Sasuke dear, why are you crying?"

"Because the dog is broken and Daddy can't fix it."

"Honey, it's not broken. It's dead."

"No! No, stop saying that! It's just broken! Just fix it already, it's not funny."

"Sasuke. Listen to me. It can never be fixed, because there is nothing to fix. All life is meant to end. Now wipe those tears, boy. Be a man."

"Fugaku, he's just a child."

"He will have to grow and be strong, like Itachi. I will not tolerate tears, son. Understood?"

"Fugaku—!"

"Dear, please. He needs to learn."

"I understand, sir."

"Good."

-oOo-

Sometimes, I get scared. Scared of not knowing who I am. Sometimes, it's hard. For me. It hurts inside of me. Makes me feel vulnerable. When I look in the mirror, trying to figure who I am, who is inside this body of mine. It's scary. And so I am scared. Fear is funny. It seems so pure, in a way. To be afraid. So naïve. Incorruptible. But everything is. Fear turns to paranoia. Paranoia turns to obsession. And I do not know what the next step is. I am not a scientist, nor am I a psychologist. I am just me, whoever that is.

"Sasuke." It is mother. She is holding my hand. She needs me now, she needs me to be there for her. I do not know why she does. I think it is because father is broken. Because he will never be fixed, because there is nothing to fix. Because that is how things are. All things end. I do not know why they end. But I do not want to understand. No one should understand everything. Like why father is broken, just like that dog. Why mother has tears in her eyes, or why she squeezes my hand like that, that it hurts. Why I feel this pain, deep inside, why all of this has to happen. Because there are no answers. "Sasuke, he is gone."

Gone? Gone where? He is not gone mother. He is broken. He fell apart because he needed to end, like that dog. "I am here now, mother."

"Oh, dear. Come here." Where is here? Is this home? This place is really bizarre. There are a lot of people, and they all wear black. Black is nice. I like black. It is nothing. Like a hole, an endless hole. She hugs me now, enveloping me inside her thin arms. She is skinny. Too skinny. She looks sick, or maybe she is. Her hair is thinner, and not as black. It is half white.

"Sasuke, I love you dear. Don't you ever forget that. Promise me." I promise. She knows I do. I do not even have to say it. She knows I love her. I cannot understand love. It is funny, in so many ways. It is heavy, although it has no weight.

"We will all cherish Fugaku Uchiha, and his tremendous donations to the society." I cannot understand why people talk so much. Especially since he is telling me something I already know. I know who my father was. People think they need to explain everything with words. I think it is not necessary. People are not stupid. And there are so many other ways to explain things. With music, with sight. With art, and with love. All people are connected. They are united, even though they do not know it. They do not need words to understand. They need each other. That is why there are so many people here, because they need my father. And I allow them to share him, for he is not mine. But now he is broken. I do not know who broke him. Maybe time. Maybe he broke himself. "Mother, would you like to say something?"

Itachi is my brother. He is good. Good to everyone who is good to him. But he can never be bad. He is like a light, white light. Bright and clear. He gives his hand to mother. And she stands up. "Thank you all for coming. I apologize for being rude, but I must go and get some rest. I do not feel well." Mother is honest. Dad is not. He thinks that people's opinion is more important then what is the truth. He says the truth is not what people want. People sound very stupid when he says it like that. What do they want then? Lies? Do they make them feel better? Why do lies make things better? It does not make any sense. Maybe hiding the truth broke father down.

Maybe the truth hurts more than lies.

"It does dear. It really does."

-oOo-

They were not crying, not exactly. It wasn't shedding tears. They were more like vomiting them. Like they had to go out, or else they will go insane. They were not screaming, not exactly. It was more like howling. Howling pent up despair, pent up pain because that was all they felt, and that was the way they could describe it.

They were not hugging. No one would look at them and say it looked as if they were hugging. They were clinging desperately for something- _anything_- to be there for them, so that they wouldn't be left alone. No. Not anymore. There was just too much pain. It was a stab, a burn, an acid. Eating, eating, like savages. Consuming and overwhelming. Greedy. Hungry. For them, for their happy. And they held on, so tightly, as if they were falling. For something solid, something that could hold them up because there was no ground. There was nothing. But they were slippery, from their own tears. And they both slipped, howling and vomiting so many tears. Still clinging. They fell. So deep, so deep inside. So deep that they couldn't go out.

"_Sasuke_." A voice said. But the boy couldn't determine who it was. His past, his present, his future. But the voice was here, it was here with him. So he clung to it, as tightly as he could. "_She's_ _gone_." The voice cried. Gone? Gone again? Why do people have to keep disappearing for him?

_Where _did he go wrong?

"Nii-san, (1)" he whimpered lowly, arms falling helplessly around him. "_Why _did she have to go too? Wasn't dad enough?"

"Because she was…broken."

"Why did she break?"

"…She broke because she couldn't fix dad." Itachi said slowly, somewhat reassuringly. Like he needed to say it. For himself. So that he would forget it was his fault. His little brother lied down, on the floor, eyes swollen and big, his thick black eyelashes soaked and glued together. He choked on a sob, not wanting to cry anymore, so that he could be strong enough to tell this. To himself, and to Sasuke. "Sasuke." And his brother looked up, his big wide eyes locking with Itachi's.

"Yes?"

"Do you…know how hard it is to break someone?" Sasuke's black eyes darkened, as if in fear, and he shook his head, his brows knitted together in fright. "It is…excruciating. So long, so painful. But it can end. Do you want it to end? Do you want this pain to go away?"

There was not hesitation. "Please."

Itachi smiled, though it was so plain it was forced that his brother blinked slowly in confusion. "What's wrong, Nii-san? Don't you want the pain to stop?"

_So naïve, so pure, you wouldn't survive here, you're too pure._

"Nii-san, what are you talking about?" But he knew. Itachi wanted to break him. In a very short, blissful way. He wanted his pain to end. He cared. And as his Nii-san took a knife and slowly lifted it up real high, aiming his heart, he closed his eyes, and smiled. "I love you, Nii-san."

Itachi flinched, the knife stopping mid-air. Shit. He couldn't do this.

A fierce siren pierced through the deathly silence, breaking the thick air surrounding the two brothers and filling with an alive, buzzing blur. Men broke the door down, striding quickly and shouting orders to each other as they approached the crying pair. "Uchiha Itachi! You are under arrest for the murder of Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto!" The officer spat angrily, snarling at the teen. Young black eyes went impossibly wide as Sasuke felt his lungs shrink, coughing violently. Coughing out some vile, some pain, something black.

"My brother, help him! I think he is choking!"

"Believe me, Mr. Uchiha, your brother is the least of your worries now."

"He is my _only _worry! Take care of him! Sasuke!"

"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say might be used against you in the court of law—"

"Fuck if it does! Sasuke! SASUKE!"

Itachi was dragged outside, screaming his name, while he was lying on the floor, breathing so erratically that short and fast hiccups started to erupt from his throat. "Hey, I think I need a medic here! MEDIC! There is a kid here, I think he is having an attack! Hey kid! Stay with me champ! C'MON KID!"

But Sasuke couldn't hear him.

-oOo-

_"Fuck…"_

_"Fuck what mother?" Her beautiful waterfall of black hair whirled around quickly as she gasped, dropping the box in her hand. She smiled with practiced strain, looking directly at the beautiful dark boy. "Nothing dear! You scared me,"_

_"I am sorry." Her eyes softened, laying a soft hand on his black hair, so much like hers. "No, no. I am sorry. Wow, would you look at that? It is very late sweet heart. We both should go to bed."_

_"Where is father?" And just like that, her eyes went so solemn that the child's heart ached. "He…has another business meeting."_

_"It is midnight mother." She smiled slowly, scorning and insulted. Holding so much pain, so much, too much deep inside. "He has a meeting with a woman he cares about."_

_"So…where is he?"_

_She laughed, though it held no humor. "Oh, dear. That woman is not me." His eyes were dark, holding nothing but understanding. He lifted his arm slowly, tracing her hair, her face, and her lips. "Why would he care about any other woman than you mother?" She choked on a sob._

_"I don't think that I am enough to satisfy him." She knew she shouldn't be talking to her delicate little boy of such matters, but she had no one else to turn to, and she was turning desperate. Her beautiful boy buried his hand in her hair, pulling her into him. Into his heart, and surrounding her with hot arms. So hot, warming. His heart was beating steadily against her cheek, and she slowly fell asleep, in her son's arms. "I love you two so much…you know I do…right Itachi..?"_

_He nodded, and she smiled, dropping her head on his shoulder. _

_Itachi picked the box his mother dropped and read the word out loud slowly, comprehending and considering. He lowered it back, but hesitated. His father did not like the truth. He despised it, quite frankly. Should he lie for everyone's sake? He decided he should. Lying was easier. People like lies. "I will lie so they will stay together." _

_That didn't make much sense, he thought. But…sense doesn't matter. Logic doesn't as well. Only life, only love._

-oOo-

"I wish we could stay like this forever," The woman breathed out. He sighed heavily. So did he. He wanted it so badly. He wanted it, he cherished it, so tightly, so hard into his chest. He sighed again. But he couldn't. His other woman probably knew by now, she probably understood. And she was so beautiful. He didn't deserve her. She was an angel, so were his boys. He should leave them, because all he causes is pain. Yet, he couldn't stop.

Three angels. From heaven. All three angels love him. It is addictive. And he wanted that selfish pleasure to himself, even if he didn't deserve it, a commoner like him.

Who wouldn't?

"Fugaku…" she moaned quietly, laying him back on the bed, positioning herself on top of him. Her red hair surrounding her and him in their hot lustful bubble. Her green fiery eyes filled with so much passion, desire.

He knew he shouldn't, even as he crashed his hungry lips upon hers. He knew.

But he loved this woman too. His two angels. He loved both so much. They were so opposites, so unlike each other. They filled two big gaps inside of him, ones he could not show to anyone but them. One, his sensitivity. The other, his aggression. A caged lion and a scared kitten. Making love and savagely ravishing. Both so tempting, so erotic. He was addicted. To them both.

He really shouldn't.

But who gives a fuck?

-oOo-

_"I know what you are doing," She said. He froze, rising from the task of removing his shoes. "What are you talking about, dear?"_

"_Don't lie. Please. It is so fucking stupid seeing you lie." There was no response._

"_Damn. If you could only see the look on your face. What? Are you shocked to see a person you lived with half your life has a dirty mouth? Have you been really looking? Of course not. You selfish, pompous asshole." His eyes were almost comically wide now, and even though it made her feel pain, she needed this to end. _

"_You're hurting me, you know. I know you know, and I know you don't give a shit. You know you're hurting her, and again, you don't give a shit. I am not mad. I'm fucking sad I trusted you. That I wasted all this time on you, thinking you can change." _

"_Mikoto—"_

"_Don't say my name. You don't own me anymore. I am officially now not an Uchiha pet. Your shit is in the garage. Take it, and leave." _

"_It was _nothing_!" He lied frantically, desperate. "She-she's just some girl I needed to get out of my system, Mikoto _please_!"_

"_Just a woman to get out of your system?" He froze, completely, letting out a harsh gasp as his woman, _other_ woman stepped next to Mikoto. "Ku-Kushina…" _

"_Well, well. You've gotten yourself in one hell of a pickle, haven't you, _Fugaku_? Don't be scared. We aren't mad, love. I think you needed to do a better back up check, to see we both work at the _same_ firm. We both have known about you banging us both for quite a while." The lover of these two beautiful women looked at them both, thoroughly. They looked they same, dark, scorning, resentful, utterly sexy, but that was not what mattered. _

_They looked the _same_. His two opposites._

"_You saw what you wanted to see, honey. You locked yourself in that bubble of yours with the two wrong women. And now- you are going to pay for all the pain you caused us." And after those heavy words, Mikoto pulled out a cigarette, lighted it, and inhaled so deeply his eyes burned._

"WHAT_ IS THIS? HAVE YOU GONE MAD WOMAN? THIS IS NOT HOW YOU SHOULD BE!"_

"_This is reality. Your wake up call." Kushina took the cigarette between her fingers, pulled it out of the other's full lips, and _kissed_ her._

"NO!" He screamed as he leapt out of his bed, panting harshly. A worried though sleepy black gaze fixated on him, and she sighed heavily. "Fugaku. This has been going on for the past _month_, what on earth is going on?" She touched his cheek affectionately. He flinched away from the touch. A look of hurt crossed her face, but he ignored it. He had the sudden urge to kiss her, to touch her. To touch _both _of them. For them to be united. He needed this to end. "Mikoto, I need to tell you something."

She did not answer. "I…have been…for the past year—"

"Cheating on me? Yes, I know." His eyes widened in fear. "With Uzumaki's wife, am I correct? Kushina. Nice woman, I like her." She smiled merrily, giggling childishly. This…this _can't _be real. He needed her to pain him.

"I am sorry for Minato. I think he doesn't know. You should stop this selfish behavior. You are hurting other people. Don't you care that you cause pain?" 

"I…"

"You don't know. I don't even think you care. You are acting like such a small child. You need what you want when you want it. Try to understand that there are _other _sides to this. My side, her side, Minato's side. And beside you, everyone else isn't pleased. So just, decide. If not, I suggest you leave." He didn't know what to do. He just looked at her, eyes wide and full of tears. "Don't think that crying is going to help you out of this. This wouldn't be forgotten, it just won't. Neither I nor her will ever forget this, or ever trust you again."

"Stop it."

"No."

"_Stop _it."

"I can't. You need to hear this—"

"STOP IT!" She silenced. He sighed in relief. "Just _stop _it. It can just, just stop. I can stop. Forever. We can forget this, please, let's, let's just forget this. We, I don't need this."

"You don't _want _this. It can't go back, it never will—"

"NO!" The harsh sound of clothes tearing, cries of pain, of pleasure, of sorrow filled the hollow walls, and the hollow souls.

A rather big child stepped quietly up the stairs, into the unfolding scene. Once his eyes witnessed the crime, widened to almost comical proportions, he took the small object, so tightly inside his hand, and ran in the direction of the two persons. Until the one noticed, it was too late for the other. A tortured howl and a surprised scream of pain suddenly erupted from two throats, as one remained the same and the other sliced completely.

A body fell heavily on another. Wide black eyes locked, and the child ran to hug his naked mother.

She wrapped her shaking and bloody arms around him, whispering forgiveness. Whispering love, whispers in the dark.

Only love, only life.

-oOo-

A small square box lay on a bed. A black, professional word printed on a white note. A small hand holding the box, removing the cap. A shaking head full of once black now white hair shaking with restrained sorrow, with the suppressed urge to cry. One finger, three small taps on the small bottle inside the box, and ten small pills slip out silently. One, for her beloved. Two, for his woman. Three, for the woman's husband. Four, for her Itachi. Five, for her Sasuke. And five other pills for her.

Her black gaze stayed on them, the ten white pills. On her freedom, her escape.

She shook her head. No.

Go away. Selfish thoughts. Go _away_.

She will not surrender.

Not like he did.

-oOo-

"_Mother. It's late." She jumped slightly, frightened. She whirled her beautiful waterfall of white hair to the source. She smiled with practiced strain. "Dear…You have the tendency to frighten me so late at night."_

"_I am sorry for doing so. Mother, father isn't coming back. He deserved what happened to him."_

"_Yes. I know." She sighed. Still. It hurts. More than she was trained to adapt to._

"_I brought you some water." She looked up and locked gazes with her sons beautiful black one, so much like hers. She smiled tiredly, and reached out for it. Ten pills followed, carried by a small hand, pale and pure, like an angel. She stared at them numbly. "I know you want to, mother. It's okay. I will forgive you. Sasuke will too. We understand." _

_A sole tear slid down a frail cheek, to be wiped along with other second thoughts. Its destiny was sealed. "It's okay."_

_A shaking hand raised to take the ten white pills, grabbed them, a whispered 'I love you two so much' was whispered to a blurry face, and five deep gulps ended it all. The pain, the furious pain. "Tell Sasuke…I love him."_

"_He knows."_

_A black light flooded her everything, and she drowned in it, with such an ease that her sons eyes watered. _

_At least she died with a smile._

-oOo-

"Why?" He hissed through gritted, expression twisted in pain. So much so, it looked as if holding the expression in itself was painful. A dull black gaze lifted up from a bed and locked with a savage one. No answer came from the owner. The other was shaking with rage now, with so much hurt. But he won't cry. His father told him to be strong, and so shall he be. _No tears_.

"_Why_?" Again, no answer was formed. Two fists clenched, drawing blood. The dull gaze flicks shortly to the event, averts. Sasuke had seen the look. "So _now _you care of how I feel?" The voice was nearing a roar, even though it was nearly silent. Contradicting. Opposite. "I thought you _cared_. _I _thought you _loved_. You _sick_ _bastard_! I_ hate _you!"

"I know."

"You know. You _know_. Why doing this, _Nii_-san?" Every word was drenched with hate, with sadness, with rage. The other blinked. And again, welcoming the fleeting darkness for less then a second. He was tired. "I hope you _rot _in here."

He didn't flinch. Words didn't matter. His words were furious lies. They both knew Sasuke was lying. He probably just didn't understand. It is because he didn't look. "I know."

"Again. You _know_. You know so _fucking _much, don't you, _Itachi_? You know everything. You are flawless. Nothing can touch you, right?" His eyes were wet, and like wounds, little tear streaks bled out of his eyes. They were red with anger. He tried to dry them over and over, but they just kept coming up, no matter what he did. He felt so stupid, wiping his tears that were completely ignoring his wishes. Stupid, _stupid _tears. They just won't fucking _listen_!

"I…"

His eyes lifted from lowered shame, meeting black ones, just like his own. The older boy looked directly into his eyes, the look rolling and splashing feelings and memories of life, of love. Of innocence. God, were was his innocence? Did Itachi steal his innocence too? Wasn't his family enough? He had to take his ignorance as well? "Why, Itachi?"

"Does it matter?"

"_YES! _It fucking does! It _matters_, Nii-san, because, unlike you- family is all I have! All I _HAD_! I have _nothing _now." Itachi's eyes flickered to the tears, ears ringing with the towering force of the words vomited out of his little brother's mouth. "Sasuke."

Sasuke looked up. His wide black eyes swollen and big, thick eyelashes soaked and glued together. "Do you know how hard it is to break someone?" His eyes darkened in understanding. "It's…easy. You don't have to do anything. People just crack themselves for you. They break their own will, their own soul. All you have to do is just…give them a hand." He clenched his teeth harshly, emotion seeping out like water. "Mom and Dad—"

"Don't say their name!" He raised from his seat. His eyes were furious as the rest of him, almost completely obscured as result of his lowered brows. "Don't _dare _say their name." He hissed. "You don't have the right do to that anymore. _Family _says that." He spat angrily, face twisted in a sneer. Itachi sat in numb mute, staring out to random spaces. He needed this said.

"This was done…" _It was done for you._

"To test…" _To prove._

"The beauty of innocence." _There is still life, there is still love, in you._

-oOo-

(1)- Nii-san is a traditional way to call your brother in Japanese.


	2. Chapter 2

It is disgusting.

One would think that revenge would bring him this joy, this fullness that the deed is now _done _and now he shall bask in its glory.

But he couldn't, because it is just _fucking _disgusting.

The shot isn't catching him by surprise, not at all, it even looks like he was expecting it. It's really Sasuke who's being caught off guard. He looks like he's the one shot, looking down to see the pistol dropping from his hand and breaking against the floor. His brother takes a wet, sickening gasp, which makes blood trickle down and stain the orange cloth.

There's nothing fulfilling about this, nothing. This is _not _beauty.

"Where is it?" He whispers into him, into his soul, searching. Itachi looks up and smiles, "There is none." He's clenching at his side, where the bullet had gone through, and Sasuke vaguely notes he missed the heart. "There is none."

And from some crazy reason, he already knows that. He grits his teeth, closing his eyes and fights off the tears. He feels oddly numb, not like he thought he should feel. It is almost unbelievably slow now; every bloody breath Itachi is drawing and the blood coughed exhale looking insanely detailed. Itachi's looking straight into his eyes, securing an emotion Sasuke can't really put his finger upon, but if he had to give it a name…He saw just emptiness. Nothing, blank.

And it drained every sense of doubt in him.

"This…" His voice is bleeding, like sandpaper, and it hurts Sasuke to listen. But he does, because he needs the answer. "This may be a lie…but that little bubble you're living in isn't the truth either…" He sounds like he's choking, and for one insane second Sasuke wants to help him up, tell him he's sorry. The whole world doesn't matter for now, nothing does. The shouting for him to freeze, he will deal with all of that when they begin to threaten his life. Sasuke doesn't open his eyes until he hears his older brother's laugh, snapping his eyes wide open and taking in the picture. And then he saw it.

He saw beauty. Real beauty, not a wrong one.

His brother's eyes were wet, as silent tears slid his down his cheeks. He was smiling gleefully. "Can you see it?"

He nodded.

"Are you sure it's real?"

"What are you talking about?" And like that, the humor is gone; the beauty draining away like it's some kind of used water, like it isn't necessary. A dark scowl etches onto Itachi's face and he growls angrily. "Your beauty isn't real. You're so blind, so ignorant, after all these years."

He doesn't speak. He wants to shoot him again- make him stop talking because he's talking nonsense. Nonsense he doesn't need to hear. Itachi Uchiha falls to the ground, choking and bleeding, coughing and bleeding. Bleeding. He closes his eyes at last- the torture, all the pain, the insistent pain- fading way, like dust. For once he could think straight, he could see the love and the life. _Finally_…

And it turns black. He can sleep.

"FREEZE! I SWEAR TO GOD THAT I'LL BLOW YOUR FUCKING BRAINS OUT!" He closes his eyes slowly. He's kind of lost right about now, so he looks up, into the frightened officers eyes. His eyes are lost just like his, and he smiles at him.

"Can you see it?"

"W-What?"

"Beauty. Can you see any beauty in this?" The officer looks disoriented, but he takes him seriously.

"Uh, quite frankly, what I see is disgusting." He nods. Yes, it is.

"_Foolish little brother…"_

_Shit, this isn't supposed to happen. But it does, like always, and it was so fucking disgusting I couldn't close my eyes, because it was real. There wasn't any beauty and it makes me drain, like I'm too empty to be mad. I just walk away because I have nothing else to do. The officer isn't stopping me, for a very odd reason. He says something that sounded in a foreign language, even though I know it's my own. I just don't want to understand and I don't know why, and I don't care._

"_Foolish little brother…"_

Shit. He failed.

-oOo-

"It starts with a twinge of fear, just about two spoons, so you'd get that nice chilly taste of it. Then you add seven or so seeds of anger, so it will get nice and hot, spicy. Then, comes something that really, _really_ makes your taste buds explode- and it's one of my favorite parts. You add a cup, one _full _cup of pure frustration, so you'd get that emo, bitter and absolutely delicious flavor. Then another nice round of three to nine spoons of fear, so that it would get fiery and bubbly. And then you add it, and it's done. A diamond cut to perfection. About fifteen leaves of emptiness. Now I know it's weird, since it has no taste. But that's the thing. Emptiness is the alcohol. Once you get a taste of it, you're doomed to drink it forever."

He's explaining this shit to this weird looking dude who entered his shop, looking around him as if to determine if he's at the right place. Now he's been in the business for a while and he knows that usually people come here not knowing what they wanted. The kid took a note from his pocket and checked it, got out, looked around, and entered. Once he realized where he was he asked him what kind of drink can make him hallucinate. So when he asked the weirdo what kind of emotion he wants the hallucinating to focus on- he said emptiness.

Uh-huh.

Okay, so that was a little emo. But the kid looks so lost, like he's trying to eat something too big for him to ingest. And he feels for that. So he tells him about this new drink he made. "How is the drink called?" He smiles. "That, pal, is the perfect recipe for a nightmare."

"I asked for emptiness."

"Look, you can't achieve true emptiness. Never. It's not only impossible, it's also highly not recommended. Like soul suction or something, people can die from that shit." The boy is considering.

"He'll take The Nightmare." Offers a weird voice. Sounds robotic and metallic, and at the same time it sounds completely angry, resentful. It's so weird he has to see who spoke it.

And he looks.

And looks away.

He feels almost unnaturally numb, number then what even the best morpheme can provide. The _thing_, the resentful, sad skinny _thing _that said those words is not human. Not human, because it's just sad.

He nods, feeling paralyzed. And he walks away, but not to make them their drink, he walks straight out of the shop.

Because he doesn't think he'd ever seen something so fucking gross in his entire life.

-oOo-

For the second time of his life, Sasuke Uchiha felt like this was wrong. It was raining, but he knew there shouldn't be rain. He knew god shouldn't be crying. His eyes were watery and painful to look at, as he looked up, mute to the unbearable clench in his heart. He knew he shouldn't even feel this way, because it was _wrong_. He knew that god shouldn't be crying because it was _wrong_. But he couldn't do anything.

His chest was constricting with agony, his throat felt like a rope was suffocating it, burning him, crushing his lungs, his voice, his heart, and his soul. He was struggling to breathe, eyes wide and full of tears but still refusing to let them spill.

That would mean that all of this was really happening.

He hunched over, as if in desire to relieve his stomach of its contents, looking eerily sickening and vulnerable. People walked by, stopping for a split second to look at the deranged teen who was coughing something invisible, something that came from such a depth inside him it looked like he was trying to cough out his soul- the sight so _abnormal _and strange people looked utterly disgusted, kicked him, shouted at him, tried to pry the disturbing image out of their mind.

Because all of this was so fucking _wrong _that it shouldn't be real.

"_The defense presented such a striking and fact filled report that shocked us all- revealing the truth behind the cloudy mystery of the Uchiha household…"_

The tears were rimming his eyes, making them glow oddly, like he was inhuman. They were red and black and swimming with rage, with silent denial.

That wasn't _real_. _That was wrong!_

"…_Uchiha Fugaku was having an affair with another woman, Kushina Uzumaki, who was also married to Minato Namikaze. The two had been seeing each other for more then a year…apparently have also been together _before _the marriage…_

"…_The wife, resentful- killed her husband and hid the knife in her son's room. After less than a month, Mikoto Uchiha committed suicide, leaving a note behind that took full responsibility for both acts…_

"…_The note was hidden for an unknown reason…"_

Sasuke knew this was wrong. All of it, he just knew. His mother would cry with him if a fucking canine died, she wouldn't dare to even kill a goddamned _fly_. She was _sickly _good. And she _loved _his father. She loved him too much for him to deserve. She would never kill him!

Why did Itachi let them lie? He _knew _they were wrong! Why is he doing this?

And why can't someone just _tell _him the answer?

"…_Uchiha Itachi was declared innocent and will be released tomorrow morning…"_

No. _No_. That wasn't right! For fuck's sake- he killed them!

It was so painful just then, like someone had just shot him, and he closed his eyes, awed that it could reach that level of pain, that he could _ache _in places that didn't exist. It was so concentrated, on his heart, on something deeper, something that even his heart couldn't reach, something so black and twisted his eyes felt like they were burning.

This was a lie, and he was done being silent.

-oOo-

"What do you want?" Sasuke whispered, trying to find anything to look at. The thing next to him sighed, and slid from the chair he just took place in and slithered straight ahead of Sasuke.

Sasuke felt like he wanted to cry. He was gasping, harshly, because this…this was just sad. He was just sad, so ugly, so…

Hopeless.

He was trying to find the words. He was trying to find something to say, something good that will make this thing go away because it was just disturbing, just…_bothering_ him. It made something clench inside him and chills run all over his body. It made him feel just like he did back then.

Lost.

With no purpose, like the thing he wanted so badly just evaporated when he was finally supposed to achieve it. He just felt so…misleaded.

The man was not ugly. His facials were nice, they added nicely together. But he was so skinny. Skinny and sad. And so resentful. He looked at Sasuke like all of this was his fault, like he was at blame. Like he hated him. And it felt weird. So weird, because Sasuke for once in his life knew the man was right.

Why was he right?

"I would like to make some things straight." He hissed. His voice was sad too, even though he tries to make it look bullying. Frightening. But Sasuke was no fool. "Like what?"

"About your brother." Silence, it stretched on forever.

"He's dead." Sasuke stopped breathing. He did it…he did it! A disbelieving smile came to his face. He fucking did it!

"God, your ignorance never ceased to baffle me." The man hissed. Sasuke looks at him, "Let me tell you a story, maybe it will set things…right."

"And what makes you think I give a shit as to what you say?"

"Because it's real." The man doesn't let Sasuke consider.

"It's a nice story. It starts when a commoner meets a queen. The commoner, who has never seen such a beautiful thing in his entire life, set a goal to achieve it. An ambitious commoner he was, no doubt. He forgot his love on the way. His simple, commoner-like love was forgotten, and shocked, and sad beyond comprehension, found a man who loved her. Truly, passionately. This man was strong, and she held on to him, with all her strength, because he was the one who showed her she had it. He was the king, and she the commoner. And he loved her. Because he was an innocent king.

"Back to the queen and the commoner. The queen was delicate, sweet, and fragile. Feminine. She made the commoner honest, she believed in him, in his passion. She fell in love so deeply, because she was an innocent queen.

"Both the queen and the king, in love with their commoners, let both jump so high, let them have whatever they want, achieve what they want, everything. And suddenly, everything from kings and queens, as innocent and beautiful as they were, wasn't enough anymore for the two commoners. For they were greedy. They wanted more.

"And what a coincidence, because just when the commoners were going to end the love with their kings and queens, they crossed ways with each other yet again. And what magnificent commoners both had now become. Still passionate, still greedy, they devoured each other, loved each other all over again. And it was enough for once, for both.

"They decided to find the love they had with their kings and queens, and they did; they had children, they had a home, they both had a queen or king in possession, and they had each other. But kids, they were smart. One was, at least. He saw, like his queen mother, he saw his commoner father go and devour the other commoner and decided for his mother's sake that they needed all this pain to stop." Here the strange man stopped. "What does all that have to do with me?" Sasuke whispered.

"Oh, wait. It's just coming up.

"The smart child was determined to make that entire world of pain end. But just when he was about to end it, another child came. A _beautiful _child. Like an angel. He was so _pure_. So _white_. He made everything smile, everything radiate light even when it was dark.

"And suddenly, the older child couldn't end his light. He couldn't even though he _knew _it was a fake light, because none of it was real. He saw the commoner treat the light like trash and worship himself, himself and his first born boy because he was cursed and born like his father, turned ambitious and talented and so his father cut him like a diamond. Like he wanted him to be, from his deepest wishes because he knew the older child could do it. And it hurt the older child so much, to see his little brother's expression whenever his father looked away, told him to wipe his tears, be like his brother, and be more like he wanted him to be. It hurt to carry all this pain, but he did, for his brother's sake, so that he would somehow see some kind of invisible beauty in all of this.

"The brother took it all, all this pain on his shoulders."

-oOo-

He was walking in an unknown street, in an unknown hour, a bottle in hand. He was smiling even when he wanted to cry. He felt so crazy; the tears nearly making him gag. It wasn't painful, it wasn't like a stab. It was just madness. Pure madness. Frustration. Desperation. Insanity. He felt like laughing and screaming at the same time- both made sense at the same time.

He felt so _stupid_, so _blind_, so _wrong_. He started scratching, his cheeks, his neck, his eyes, his heart, everything. Pulling out his hair, putting more pressure, until he actually was screaming from pain and laughing at the same time. So loud, it actually hurt him to listen to his own voice, but for now the pain was blessed. His face was soft when he touched it, and sensitive, red and raw. He liked it like that; it meant that _physically _he didn't have a mask.

Inside was a different story.

Even though he was screaming, laughing, crying, vomiting and drinking at the same time, he felt empty. So empty. Like in a nightmare. His eyes glazed, rolled back and it went so dark, so dark inside him and inside everything. So he opened them, because the dark scared him. He tried not to blink, because that made more darkness, more _emptiness _go in him and he didn't like it. He tried throwing the bottle away, but it was like it was glued to his hand. Resisting. His head pulsed, and ached, and he exploded. His face was red, pink, purple, green and yellow, sickening and gruesome in a way no one could describe, and he fell to the floor.

And everything went black.

-oOo-

"Stop…" He said softly, because it meant nothing. The man ignored him, continuing, drilling inside him, inside all of him, all he was- everything they all were. "But one fateful night, he broke. Why did he, you ask? He did because he had to see his father force his mother into complete submission just when the innocent queen sobered up. He saw her face, he saw his, he saw their bodies- he actually _saw _the pain. Physically. And he couldn't take it anymore.

"So he ended the pain. Or cut it off, temporarily. But his beautiful brother, his innocent, beautiful brother- was shattered. His ignorance, his innocence, was gone. Forever." Sasuke was crying. He didn't even notice. Rivers of tears, spilling from his so _sore _eyes. He knew this was right. He knew it because the words the man was saying, the way he looked when he said them, he knew he wasn't lying. Why would he?

"Why…telling me this?" He looked at the man, ignoring the sting at his chest upon seeing him. The other averted his eyes. "You thirsty?" He asked. Sasuke did not nod, but did not decline the request as well, and so the skinny man started taking a leaf there, a cup there, a power here. Not measuring, his hands moved with elegance not normal for ordinary people. With ease, even though his face stayed the same blank page they were as the whole time. He was mixing and jarring and shaking, his movements fluid like water. Then there's a glass and it's being handed to Sasuke. He takes it.

And takes a sip.

He didn't know if the taste was good. He didn't really care. The taste was…indefinable. Like when you hear music and close your eyes. It doesn't have to be good. It doesn't have to mean anything too deep in particular. But one tiny note, a tiny word- and one is doomed to love the song. Hear it, and hear it once more- until you can't take it anymore. It was clearing his mind and losing it at the same. Emptiness washed over like a tidal wave, surrounding him in its powerful embrace and trapping him. From what, he did not know, because inside the water there is no sun. There is just darkness. "This drink…The Nightmare, it's powerful stuff." The man says absently.

"Who…_are _you?"

"A private detective," Sasuke looks up, "Itachi hired me."

"Why?"

"He needed to find details, you know, about everything. Needed to make sure what he was doing was what was right." Sasuke thought he nodded, "Why did the media say mothe…Mikoto left a note?"

"Lies. They planted evidence."

"Did Itachi tell them too?"

"Yes."

"_Why_?"

"He knew it would cause you to do something about it." Sasuke was dizzy. He got up, but a hand stopped him.

"Sasuke." His head snapped to meet the other. He showed him a tag, with broken words and letters. "Madara. Uchiha Madara. I'm your father's cousin." Sasuke looked him over, but he felt so heavy, and so weird, and so _angry_, he slapped it away. Madara sighed. "Don't do the same thing I did," he says as he got up.

-oOo-

The eyes feel sore. Open, I command, and they flutter. They drop, because they are tired. Open, I command again. They do not obey; it is like they are taped together. I growl. OPEN. They open too slowly, like they expect me to change my mind. Stupid eyes. They burn, and it hurts. But they still open, blinking over and over to get used to the light. There is not much of it anyway. It's far away, but the pupils are dilated, so it still hurts. The light isn't blue, like always. It's orange, and yellow, and pink and red. They paint the sky completely- and it makes it look like heaven, or a painting. I know I'm not dreaming, but I still rub my eyes, to check if it's real. I have read and heard of sunrise and sunsets, I have dreamed of them, too. But the way the colors blend together, illuminated and glowing, like fire, is something I cannot describe even if I wanted to.

It's so beautiful. I hold breath inside my lungs until they feel like they are about to explode, then I release it slowly, and take some in again, until the lungs protest, and exhale.

Then a splash of water that's too close for me to ignore tears my eyes away, and I finally look to see where I am. It's a pier. It's old and rotten, Like from a very old picture. Right at the beach, and I look to see the water wavering a little, like someone just jumped in.

It's early. Obviously. I get up, ignoring the sharp pain that cuts through my sight, going out of focus and almost blanking out- and go forward. In the water, there's something floating.

A person. A boy. Young, probably my age. He's not trying swim, but he's not flailing around like a drowning person either. He doesn't look like he wants to float at all; in fact it looks like…he wants to drown. He is smiling, like he's truly happy, and trying to drown.

"Hey!" I shout. He jumps a bit. "What the fuck are you doing?" I shout again. He gasps, and finally realizes where he is and starts flailing around like a drowning person. His hands hit the water frantically, and after he seemed to relax- like waking up from a nightmare, he closed his eyes and swam like nothing happened. Odd.

He puts two arms on the pier and hoists himself up and on his legs. "What the fuck was that?" I ask, now that he's near. He still doesn't open his eyes. "What do you mean?" He says a little too loudly, like he doesn't know where I am.

"Were you trying to die?" He looks weirded out.

"What? Why would I try to do that?"

"Because you were like…in the water…and you- you like…" He lifts an eyebrow. I huff. "Whatever, it looked like you were in a dream or something." He smiles a little. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He opens his eyes.

They are blue. Blue like water and the sky, like blue fire and earth and wind. His blue eyes look elementary, almost like life. Two cores. "I can't see you. Where are you?"

And blind.

-oOo-

It was now. Now or never.

This was it, the moment he waited for. All of it looked so unreal, yet so owlishly alive. He could see every detail, every speck of light, the wind like bits and bits of fragments hitting his face. He could feel the life, the love surrounding him, suffocating him. Looking around he noticed the doors, those two fateful doors of his future, of his redemption.

And then, he was there.

His long black hair, haunted black eyes, framed by two heavy bags underneath. Wearing the traditional orange prison attire was Uchiha Itachi, the ancient clan's prodigy. He looked so different, so peaceful, like he knew there was a tiny metal pistol in his hand. Like he knew this was it.

He saw him.

And smiled. _Finally…_

His entire body was shaking; a wave after wave of chills washing over him. He knew he was getting cold feet, but it was now, or never. The pistol was clenched tightly, and his brother was advancing, seemingly in slow motion, at him. He was getting closer and closer, so was his smell, his aura and so much more, just _Itachi_. He felt himself shaking, shaking like it was really cold, and clenching the pistol harder into his body as a wave of memories of innocence washed over him like a Tsunami. He closed his eyes because they couldn't see his smile anymore, now right in front of him.

That little pistol was pure Uchiha, a heritage from his great-grandfather and on to Itachi. But he's not family anymore, he's not Uchiha anymore. Now it's him, now it's Sasuke's responsibility to live up to his father. Itachi is a killer. And now, finally, an Uchiha pistol is going to take his life. He was going to restore his innocence, and achieve his revenge.

Soon- all those _voices _will go away.

-oOo-

He didn't notice or didn't care that a skinny and black wearing creature had sneaked a note in his pocket. The man wasn't smiling, and wasn't scowling. He had no expression at all, no scent, no aura, and he was almost skinny enough to be invisible.

The man didn't exist in people's minds, and he safely walked away, ignoring the puzzled expressions people sent his direction, as if moved by an unseen force.

They shrugged it off because the thing that did radiate off the creature was cold and sad, skinny and invisible. They shrugged to rid the strange and chilly atmosphere that surrounded them after the bizarre hit.

The creature disappeared, walking and watching the blind eyes of Uchiha Sasuke as he stepped out of the court of law, bewildered persons watching his retreating form.

And it smiled.

-oOo-

"_Don't turn into a sad creature no one sees, don't give up hope. It's the only thing…believe in the life, in the love. It's the only thing that is truly real."_

-oOo-

**Okaay…That took me such an eternity to write that my head hurts. I hope it's not confusing, and I really need some constructive feedback- that would help me a lot. I hope you like. **

**Review if you want more. **

~WhiteDevil


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again. **

**Been a long, long time, huh? It's really late now. Now. I have a few clarifications to make:**

**1. The first two chaps were the general layout of Sasuke's broken innocence. His tragedy. They were build in a unique format to sharpen the notion of the confusion and ignorance, how badly he'd been going in a wrong path. **

**2. This is a redemption story. It's about mending broken souls. The Manga's original story was cast in this AU but THAT's not what the story's about.**

**3. I am extremely sorry for taking so fucking long.**

**Disclaimer: Do not own anything except this original plot. **

**Enjoy, and please review.**

They were awkward in the beginning. After the short, but rather embarrassing (on his part, he notes shamefully) exchange of misunderstandings and ambiguous answers enough to have him sufficiently interested and disconcerted at the same time, he somewhat sobered up.

That iridescent, ethereal feel of waking up in a picture-taken pier right to the sunrise faded solemnly, leaving a sort of suspicious nervousness in its wake. He felt his quiet, distant, constantly lonely side taking over the storm of feelings, numbing it to an unsettling whisper in the depths of his inner and most secretive self. He was suddenly left aware that he _was _on a deserted pier at sunrise with not a clue where he was and what day it was.

It left him very, very rattled. Before he could panic, however, he decided the boy was the most reasonable (and available) turn-to person, and turned to him, sizing him up.

The boy was wet and had a wild, unreachable, uncontainable aura to him that left Sasuke somewhat silent and contemplative for a while. And adding this short period of silence on his part to the rather considerably longer period of time he had to put his wishes to words, which were quite many (where are we, what time is it, am I dead, who are you, what place am I going to go to from here?) they were surrounded with a painful, adolescent, nervous silence Sasuke felt was grinding against his nerves and even furthermore shutting him the fuck up, refusing to let him speak.

The boy spoke first. "Where are you?" Only about six meters were separating them, so Sasuke saved both the trouble and went to the boy instead. "What's your name," the boy had asked once he came closer.

"Sasuke," he said, and the boy curved his mouth slightly in a quite odd gesture that resembled both a smile and a frown at the same time. "That's Japanese, right?"

Sasuke nodded, before realizing how stupid it was and answered a vague agreement.

"Naruto," the boy had retorted. Sasuke stared. "Naruto..?"

The boy snickered. "That's my name." Sasuke was guiltily grateful for the boy's blind-state as he blushed, mollified. He said an awkward 'oh' and they yet again relapsed into a deafening, socially-retarded silence.

Sasuke was home-schooled. Correspondence with other young people his age was an acquired skill, a skill Sasuke never invested time in acquiring since he was practically destined to be molded into a cold, obtuse business man. He didn't know how to react to people he didn't know since they didn't know exactly what he was feeling and thinking, like obviously this person didn't.

Sasuke was a quiet person, withdrawn to a by-stander since he was only closely acquainted to his family. He knew no-one else. "So…" the boy, Naruto, began, and stopped, shuffling his feet, looking embarrassed. His eyes were not wandering in a manner Sasuke would have expected. In fact, his eyes were stationary, seeming to stare endlessly into the same spot in space, as if boring into another dimension.

"What are you doing here," they both blurted out, Sasuke averting his eyes and Naruto kicking his feet again, his face set downward. Naruto answered first.

"Just…didn't feel like being home." This early, his parents don't mind? He toyed with the option of asking or staying silent. Sasuke felt quite nonplused. He had never attended an occasion where the person in front of him could not see from his body-language what he felt or thought. In fact, it occurred to him, that he hadn't attended an occasion where the person in front of him couldn't _see_. Full stop.

He must speak in order to express himself, not trust the other's sight alone as a hint of his thoughts direction. He was completely alienated to the experience. A human being simply _seeing _you was a fact so taken for granted in his life, that this sudden _lack _of this basic communication tool left him at loss. "Wouldn't your parents mind you're out so early?"

The boy didn't precisely flinch, but his sort of relaxed disposition tensed up, and as response, so did Sasuke's.

A slight twinge of panic shot to his heart. As though he did, or said, or both, something wrong. He refused to sound it, huffing instead, waiting. It took Naruto a decidedly longer that normal period to answer.

"I suppose parents would do that, huh," he said eventually, quietly, looking half sad half sheepish. Scratched his neck.

"Don't have any." Kicked his feet against an invisible pebble. Sasuke's eyes, as an instinct, shot to the unseeing blue stare, weighing him up. Trying to figure out if he's kidding, though could find no healthy reason why a person would lie about something like that.

"Don't have them, either," he blurts quickly, throat constricting painfully around the words. It's Naruto's turn to be surprised, looking through him with those electric eyes, face twisting through various versions of surprise, then; slowly ripening into something he warily identifies as... relief. He noted to himself that he actually felt relieved too.

"So... what are _you _doing here?" Naruto asked with a strange smile on his face. Sasuke could, for the life him, not remember how he got here, or if he's the one who _got_ here, since he could have been brought here, but then again; why on earth would a person bring him to a deserted old pier?

"I don't know," is what he says in the end.

"Well... then, where are you going now?" Sasuke felt a compelling urge to... something. To do. To act. Never felt that before around strangers. It's odd, winding around his windpipe, fluttering about his stomach. Fickle, never constant, like a cut off current of energy. "I don't know."

Now Naruto huffed through his nose, a little exasperated. "You got anywhere to go, at all?"

It was like trying to head-butt a truck. Realization was. He killed his brother. The only living Uchiha left, excluding himself. He is a criminal. There are probably pictures of him all over the Wanted posts. Interpol interventions. Newspapers. He has no home now. Nowhere to go. No one to trust. _No one_.

He is alone. Alone again. Alone for real. This truth had no escape-route, it Kamikaze-ed itself into his conscious and subconscious mind, was swift and cruel and absolute. This lone, lonely truth. Only person he's got is this blond, blind, blue-eyed kid that he didn't even know. "I... "

His voice drifted, torn and bleeding. Both hands clenching silently in emotional rejection. He was as ready as ever to just turn around and run when Naruto's voice shattered his concentration. "If… if you'd like, you could… come with me. I mean, my house is very small, I guess, me being the only one living there and all, but, you know… you can… come. If you want."

At first Naruto sounded unsure, insecure even, and in the end he was frowning, as if he didn't expect to speak that much. But he didn't back down, standing stiff and slightly embarrassed as the suggestion hung heavy in the air. At first Sasuke was suspicious. It was all very ambiguous, ominous even, a boy he didn't know who might and might not know about the whole affair of his recently acquired criminality asking him to randomly come live with him as a refugee. He calmed after a rather one-sided argument with himself.

Not much a threat could come from a _blind_ boy, especially one with around the same body build as height as him. Besides, he was, again, _blind_. Not exactly Sasuke's definition of dangerous. And, strangely enough, the boys company did not ache. It wasn't exactly welcome, either, but the fact this boy had nearly no option of harming him was actually quite… soothing. And since, due to him being a murderer, he didn't really have any place to go, he found himself inclined to agree.

"Alright," he consented, feeling slightly out of his element.

Naruto gave a large, lively grin, and took a step forward, toward him. He fought against the sudden tense feeling accompanying any human proximity, when Naruto suddenly reached out and took his hand, still smiling. "Follow me."

-oOo-

He woke up without realizing he fell asleep in the first place. He started, springing into sitting position. He was on an old, clean futon, a thin cotton blanket and feather pillow using him as sleeping instruments. He was at an average sized house(compared to the Uchiha mansion, it seemed like a tiny pimple), lots of windows, low ceilings; soft, mellow, yellow colored walls.

He was alone. The floor was wooden, in desperate need of cleaning. The entire place was slightly dusty, causing his nose to twitch irritably. He swung the blanked off his body and padded on bare feet (though he has no recollection of removing his shoes) around, nosing his way through the house. It was consisted basically of one large room—the living room—a separate kitchen, a bathroom and a toilet. No television set. No computers. Only one picture, a big one in the middle of the living room.

It was an orange, hostile looking fox, with abnormally large ears and (oddly enough) _nine _tails swishing, thick and bushy behind it. It was crouched; ears flattened against its head and sharp, pointy teeth peeking in a deep, annoyed snarl. Its eyes were a bloody red, angry and blazing, pupils almost invisible slits. Sasuke examined it with mild interest, noting the amount of attention given into details, how the fur seemed to stand on end in hostility and how the muscles seemed to be tensed, the look in the beast' eye hungry and blood-thirsty. He was impressed and lingered on the disturbing image a while, wondering why would a blind person hang such a frightening, large picture in the middle of his living room.

When he entered the kitchen, he saw there was a glass door leading outside. He stepped closer, slightly curious, and looked through. He then stood still, surprised and dazzled. The first thing he thought was; 'where the hell am I?' He then thought; 'how the hell did I get here?' and finally; 'is that a person sitting there?'

The house was in the middle of a... valley, it would seem. His mind repeated it was completely preposterous, he was just in a goddamned pier, yet here it was. There was a small lake nearby, The water glittering in the flaming light of the sunset. He then understood there was something very wrong with that sight.

_Sunset_. When the earth makes a circle around itself. Twelve or more hours later than sunrise. When he woke up.

There was a person walking toward the house. A boy. Naruto, he remembered suddenly. This is his home. His bright yellow hair was wet, and hung limp and dripping around his face, reaching all the way to his shoulder-blades. It would seem, from their short acquaintance, that Naruto was wet most of the time. "Sasuke," he then said, smiling crookedly. "Finally woke up."

"Where are we?"

"My house, of course," said Naruto, carrying in his hand a large, yellow-ish grapefruit. He reached Sasuke, his hand hesitant, searching his. Sasuke took his hand and led him in, a bit uncomfortable. "I meant where this house is," he half states, half commands an answer. Naruto snickers, in an apparently much better mood, squeezing his hand.

"Wanna eat?" he asks in a loud voice, tossing the grapefruit into his hand, still staring vaguely at an unseen point. When food is mentioned, Sasuke's stomach cramps audibly, and he flinches, slightly embarrassed. Naruto snickers again, walking past him self-assuredly into the kitchen and retrieves from a random cupboard a jar of sugar and two wrapped teapots, opens the jar and smells, smiles, puts it on the counter. Opens the drawer beneath the sink and takes two tea-spoons and a knife. Two plates and two mugs.

"Can you boil the kettle for me, please?" It's then he realizes with a start that there are no lights in this place. No wonder, he thinks, since lights don't really make a difference. Naruto takes a metal kettle with a plastic handle and an odd device, setting it in the sink.

"This thing," he holds the device, "is for camping, when people don't have gas linked to a cooker. It's like a mobile stove. This," he lifts an oval shaped container, "has the gas in it, and the other thing is just like a stove to put all sorts of stuff you wanna cook on. Just twist it on the gas thing like a screw, and push the button. Light it with a match. Got some next to the window."

Sasuke assembles the mobile stove as instructed, gets the matches and lights it up. A gas-like noise blares airily as the fire bursts to life, blue and much stronger than in actual stoves. Sasuke feels a small, modest sense of accomplishment. "Good job," Naruto praises, smiling. "Now turn it off and get some water."

Sasuke looks at him strangely. "There's a sink right here," he notes incredulously.

"It's empty," Naruto says, turning on the water to verify that indeed, the tap isn't linked to anything. "Just go to the fridge and get mineral water."

The fridge is decidedly more empty than full, which was expected. He pours the mineral water from the bottle and lights the cooker again, and sets it, like Naruto, inside the sink. Naruto already cut the grapefruit in half, poured on his a generous amount of sugar, but left Sasuke's as is. "Didn't know if you liked sugar on yours. Want some?"

"Yes, please." He says, uncomfortable. Naruto takes the tea-spoon and pours two spoonfuls. Hands him the plate soundlessly. "Let's eat on the bed?" He suggests, already starting to walk toward the living room. Sasuke follows, listening to the high, yet still quiet whistle of the kettle.

Naruto settles on the futon, chewing slowly. "Sasuke," he suddenly says, breaking a so far peaceful silence. Sasuke looks up. "What?"

Now Naruto gets stuck. He stops chewing, the hand with the spoon lowering. "You probably wanna ask me some stuff, I guess?"

He takes Sasuke's silence as a 'yes'. "I'm gonna answer to all the things you want to know, but first," here he smiles, a mischievous little smile, his eyes narrowing slightly, deluding Sasuke for a short moment that Naruto's lying, that he can see him. "I got some questions on my own. So let's do this. You ask a question, then me. And we have to promise we don't lie."

He raises his hand, reaching for a pact-shake. Sasuke considers this for a while, when eventually the small amount of curiosity and general incredulousness of the whole situation wins out the rather stupid option of staying silent in a completely isolated house with no clue where he is. "Fine."

They shake hands firmly once, twice, and Naruto lets go, returning to his grapefruit. "So, what I wanted to ask from the beginning—"

The kettle boils, the whistle loud and discordant. Naruto frowns and gets up, but Sasuke pulls him down, getting up himself. "I'll get it," he says, surprised with himself as much as Naruto is surprised with him. The light, in the midst of their bonding (the word tastes weird in his figurative mouth) has dimmed significantly, darker streaks of color starting to loom over the sky. He opens the teapots, and then realizes he has not an idea where's the trash bin. "Where do I throw the teapots?" He asks loudly.

"What?" Naruto shouts.

"Where is the trash bin?" He asks, louder this time.

"Oh. Outside, can't miss it." Sasuke looks out the glass door, a bit skittish about going outside, and opened it. A soft, demure breeze greeted him, and he notes to himself that this is the most unbelievingly clean air he'd ever had the simple pleasure of inhaling. He breathes in deeply, amazed how this natural, basic gesture can calm him so greatly, before stepping outside.

Despite it being autumn, the temperature was quite warm, even though the cooler undercurrent signaling the night's upcoming chill was noticeable. The ground isn't soft at all. Rocks and rough grass irked his feet as he tip-toed to the trash-bin, which was indeed unnecessarily large, and tossed the two teapots before running lightly on his toes back to the house, rubbing his feet once on the entrance rug.

He poured the hot water to the mugs, mixed the teapots, waiting for it to brew. He turned off the mini-cooker (that's how he decided to call it) and returned. It was almost completely dark and he had trouble seeing. "Hey," he said when he reached Naruto.

"You got some candles?" Naruto considered, looking a bit weirded out. "No." He says finally. "But I think I have a lantern somewhere. Wait here."

When he comes back, he's carrying a large, ancient looking lantern, already lit, looking very pleased with himself. It's a vast improvement. The words 'thank you' are out of his mouth without his permission, but Naruto doesn't seem the least bit surprised, smiling and nodding.

They sit again. Naruto picks his tea with a mumbled thank you and blows on it, then puts it back down, on the floor. "I forgot what I wanted to ask. You go first."

He wants to ask where they are, but what he says instead is, "what where you doing, at the pier, before?"

Naruto obviously wasn't expecting that. He started eating when Sasuke was considering, and now pauses. "I never expected that someone would be there."

Still not answering the question. Sasuke waits. "I mean. I usually go there to... um. There's a... an engraved saying. In a rock. Under the pier. Exactly where you were standing, actually. I go there once a year. Like an anniversary."

"So... "

"Ah-ah! Now it's my turn." Naruto smiles. "Why did you think I was trying to die?"

Again, the question is unexpected, forces Sasuke to think. "I guess... you just... "

He frowns. Tries again. "You weren't floating. You looked like you were about to sink and you were smiling. You had your eyes closed, and the splash you made was loud, like you fell on accident." He notices mildly that this is the longest he'd said since he last saw Itachi. The thought was like a bullet. He had numbed his feelings, locked them down so far away, denied himself access to them.

He was afraid if he'd flood himself with it, he'd overflow and fall apart. Lose balance. Go insane. Something. Never be able to find his way out ever again. Naruto touched him. It's brief and unsure. He flinches and pulls back, only then realizing Naruto's been calling him. "You alright?"

Sasuke shakes himself. "Yeah." Naruto doesn't say anything for a long time. "It's your question."

"Oh." He thinks about it. Well, first and foremost, now that he got the first curiosity out of the way: "how did we get here in one day?"

Naruto then gives a strange look, like he's grown a fever or said something ridiculous. "We... uh, didn't. We took a train. You had loads of cash on you when we met, you got us the train tickets. The first day—"

"What do you mean, 'first day'? How many days since we met have passed?" Naruto's stare gets pointed, as if admonishing of Sasuke's break of the rules, but is considerate enough of Sasuke's apparent amnesia. "A week. No, wait. Eight days."

Sasuke nearly spits out his tea, finished with his grapefruit. "Eight _days_?"

"Yeah, well. Took us about three days to get here. Then when we came, you dropped face-first in the bed and slept like the dead for five days straight. Was half worried you died." It's quite a bit to take, and it takes him a while to sort his thoughts. "Where's... how much money did I have?"

"Er. Got no idea. Don't know the bills value, is what I mean. Lots of bunches, though. Neat and tidy. Put then in the closet for you." He points at a very large wooden closet, slightly uncomfortable. "Okay. Now it's my turn. How did your parents die?"

Silence. Sasuke is tense and dark; hunched and curled into himself. He gave his promise and as an Uchiha, he never breaks his promise. All of the Uchiha's, the remaining heirs, are dead. He's the only one left. The heavy weight of duty settles on his shoulders. Swears to himself he would keep the ancient tradition. Become the Itachi Itachi should have been. "They were murdered."

The sentence lacks force or venom. Quiet and sad, slightly repressed. Naruto isn't shocked, like he half hopes half dreads he would be. He as if matches Sasuke's quiet gloominess with his own. He's sympathetic but not pitying. He doesn't say anything, waiting for Sasuke to recover from a short, aggressive turmoil this statement caused. Sasuke's question now. "How did your parents die?"

Naruto's head raises slowly, his eyes glowing oddly, cast downward, half-mast. "Mom killed herself. My father died from a snake-bite."

He didn't look quite as sad as Sasuke. Perhaps since both deaths were a while back. In fact, more than anything, Naruto looked... lonely, when he said that. Overwhelmingly lonely. He recovered much faster, his face snapping into reality. "When did they die?"

"Seven years ago. When did yours?"

"Mom died six years ago. Dad a year after her." Naruto pauses. So does Sasuke. "Why did you come here with me?" Finally he asks. He looks almost afraid to know, face set strong in preparation of the answer.

"... Because I killed the person who killed them."

Naruto looks concentrated, intrigued. Not at all disgusted. He looks almost ridiculously curious, obviously wanting to hear more. But it's Sasuke's question now. "Why did you take me in?"

Naruto isn't surprised. His eyebrows shoot up to his forehead as if it is obvious, and the first time since Sasuke saw him, he laughs. It's loud and boisterous, making him cringe a little in surprise, but so rich and genuine and infectious. It's a bitter exercise in futility not to smile in return, as Sasuke isn't immune to the effect true laughter had on people.

"I don't know," he manages when he stopped laughing. "It can, I guess, get so lonely here sometimes. Look around you, man. And before... and you were... you looked like you were as lonely as I am. I don't know." He scratches his neck, a nervous gesture of him, Sasuke notes. He's half disturbed, half bedazzled at Naruto's unique way of seeing things. So accurate, so simple, it's actually quite unnerving. It's a surprisingly private observation, he ponders at Naruto's words; as if they're both marked with a sign invisible to anyone but those who wear it.

A sign of innocence stolen.


End file.
